Defensively Speaking

[BooksOrangePlanet]

27th overall - 24th in passing - 29th in points allowed - only 5 teams allowed more yards per game - i could go on but it all adds up to arizona's defense being ranked 30th in the nfl this season before the season even starts

defense is how you win championships - this is why nobody is predicting any cardinal wins - not just because we're in the nfc west but because last year was a crap fest

but let the record show - our defense was doing more with less (as far as talent goes) a couple years ago - one could say we were kicking ass - we weren't allowing touchdowns for whole ass games and then we basically went defense in the entire draft - it was all supposed to be so gravy last year

injuries were a factor sure - but it all flat-lined when gannon changed the defensive philosophy (which we've gone over) refusing to send more than four on first and second downs

rallis doesn't make that change without gannon's say so - but considering rallis is still here and gannon isn't - i'm pretty freakin sure it was gannon who made the (devastating) change

the pressure became to much - gannon went from playing to win to playing not to lose - we all saw the extremely frustrating difference

our defense was so trash we couldn't enjoy our newly found offense with our defense crippling any chance of glory

and here's another thing - arizona has gobs of talent on defense and it's thanks to monti ossenfort - monti trusts rallis to get the most out of his draft picks for a reason - that reason is aggressiveness

our defense produced zero touchdowns last year - because that's what sending 4 gets you

if you ask me we're the only team in the nfl that shouldn't give af this year - we should just wreck everyone - blitz blitz blitz - don't send 5 send 6 - budda choosing his gaps up the middle - we need to get back at it man

we were literally wrecking teams a couple years ago but couldn't score to save our lives - then it flip flopped dramatically

my thoughts are this - rallis wanted to stay - he could've gotten on somewhere elsewhere (and out of arizona) but i'm guessing he knows how good this defense should have been last year

no crazy predictions this morning aside from significant improvement - i think we're going the murder route again - i hope so - i still got the memes

 

[kerouac9]

arizona has gobs of talent on defense and it's thanks to monti ossenfort

I think we all needed a good laugh this morning. Thank you.

 

[BooksOrangePlanet]

I think we all needed a good laugh this morning. Thank you.

i'd laugh at what you write but you don't write anymore - you somehow self promoted yourself to this (highly admired) drive-by poo poo critic thing you got going on - so i'll just laugh at that

 

[THESMEL]

I didn’t see a reason to keep the dc, beyond laziness to hire one, bc gone, km gone, but here we are, I think we have talent, enough to compete in the nfcw, if it can stay healthy. Big influx last year, heading into year 2, did CC make a lasting impression last year? Secondary could be great? Better if we get a multiplayer pass rush. Still have to find a way to stop the run and Te’s tearing us a new hole. Seems DC has the same plan with tweeks, hope Simon holds up, think he can hold the middle.

 

[Chopper0080]

27th overall - 24th in passing - 29th in points allowed - only 5 teams allowed more yards per game - i could go on but it all adds up to arizona's defense being ranked 30th in the nfl this season before the season even starts

defense is how you win championships - this is why nobody is predicting any cardinal wins - not just because we're in the nfc west but because last year was a crap fest

but let the record show - our defense was doing more with less (as far as talent goes) a couple years ago - one could say we were kicking ass - we weren't allowing touchdowns for whole ass games and then we basically went defense in the entire draft - it was all supposed to be so gravy last year

injuries were a factor sure - but it all flat-lined when gannon changed the defensive philosophy (which we've gone over) refusing to send more than four on first and second downs

rallis doesn't make that change without gannon's say so - but considering rallis is still here and gannon isn't - i'm pretty freakin sure it was gannon who made the (devastating) change

the pressure became to much - gannon went from playing to win to playing not to lose - we all saw the extremely frustrating difference

our defense was so trash we couldn't enjoy our newly found offense with our defense crippling any chance of glory

and here's another thing - arizona has gobs of talent on defense and it's thanks to monti ossenfort - monti trusts rallis to get the most out of his draft picks for a reason - that reason is aggressiveness

our defense produced zero touchdowns last year - because that's what sending 4 gets you

if you ask me we're the only team in the nfl that shouldn't give af this year - we should just wreck everyone - blitz blitz blitz - don't send 5 send 6 - budda choosing his gaps up the middle - we need to get back at it man

we were literally wrecking teams a couple years ago but couldn't score to save our lives - then it flip flopped dramatically

my thoughts are this - rallis wanted to stay - he could've gotten on somewhere elsewhere (and out of arizona) but i'm guessing he knows how good this defense should have been last year

no crazy predictions this morning aside from significant improvement - i think we're going the murder route again - i hope so - i still got the memes

Talent is a very nebulous term. They have players and a lot of those are young players. Nearly all of those young players have not consistently performed at or above a league average level or have not been able to stay healthy. The best player currently on the defense are older, and only two Budda Baker and Josh Sweat have any above average play recognition over their careers. Maybe these unproven players develop. Maybe they don't because they just aren't good. I don't know that. What I can know is what these players have done so far in their careers, and most of that has been playing inconsistently or poorly.

 

[Russ Smith]

One of the concerns on defense is that some of the early season success was predicated on veterans that aren't here anymore like Calais.

What scares me is last year when we lost Mack Wilson the defense just fell off a cliff and one of the guys who was part of that, Cody Simon, is currently a starter. Hopefully he just got better but it's pretty concerning watching him against Seattle and the Rams take the wrong gap over and over on run plays and now he's a starter is a question. I naively had assumed Jack Gibbens was going to be that guy not Simon. He started 10 games for NE last year due to injury and did ok, I was hoping he was going to come in at 27 years old and be the starter. So now we have to hope Simon has just gotten much better.

 

[oaken1]

I agree with a lot of that... but was completely dismayed when, in an interview a couple days ago, I heard mention of how Nick Rallis plans to continue only sending four..
what the actual fudge nick???
not only do we not have the dogs to rely on only sending four up front... but we dont have the backers to cover the intermediate areas when we do so....which makes us vulnerable to the dump off all day long.

 

[BooksOrangePlanet]

I agree with a lot of that... but was completely dismayed when, in an interview a couple days ago, I heard mention of how Nick Rallis plans to continue only sending four..
what the actual fudge nick???
not only do we not have the dogs to rely on only sending four up front... but we dont have the backers to cover the intermediate areas when we do so....which makes us vulnerable to the dump off all day long.

whoa... when did rallis say that?

 

[BulldogCard]

It's a new year and the overall health, training, and this staff..oof. These draft picks need to produce. I like what MLF is doing so hopefully Rallis, Hackett get overridden by these "consultants " and MLF often. Sorry staff, bad coaching, dumb schemes have to get corrected if that's possible.

 

[oaken1]

whoa... when did rallis say that?

seen it in an article about three days ago...
but, in direct answer to your question... I cannot testify that it was a new quote and not just the writer re circulating quotes from last year to fill out the page..
but the article was fresh which is why I was dismayed to see that particular sentiment.

 

[Shane]

seen it in an article about three days ago...
but, in direct answer to your question... I cannot testify that it was a new quote and not just the writer re circulating quotes from last year to fill out the page..
but the article was fresh which is why I was dismayed to see that particular sentiment.

Don’t fret, bro we’ve got BJ Ojulari coming back

 

[Goodyear Card]

Rallis stayed because he could not find another job and we could not find a DC who wanted to come here. Monti and Rallis blamed JG for the team's failure, but they are equally to blame. The defensive vastly unperformed last year, with the free agents and draft picks that were signed. The two coaches who most deserved to be fired, Rallis and the OL coach we kept.

 

[kerouac9]

2026 Arizona Cardinals Depth Chart | Ourlads.com

The most respected source for NFL Draft info among NFL Fans, Media, and Scouts, plus accurate, up to date NFL Depth Charts, Practice Squads and Rosters.

www.ourlads.com

Pro-bowl caliber players
Josh Sweat
Budda Baker
Walter Nolen*

Starters on a good defense
Will Johnson*
Mack Wilson
Garrett Williams (if healthy)

Replacement level or below
Roy Lopez
Darius Robinson
Zaven Collins
Denzel Burke/Max Melton
Andrew Wingard/Taylor-Demerson

* projection

That’s not a talented defense. We probably need one more pro bowl quality player and two more solid starters to get there.

 

[BooksOrangePlanet]

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[Goodyear Card]

2026 Arizona Cardinals Depth Chart | Ourlads.com

The most respected source for NFL Draft info among NFL Fans, Media, and Scouts, plus accurate, up to date NFL Depth Charts, Practice Squads and Rosters.

www.ourlads.com

Pro-bowl caliber player
Budda Baker

Sorry Budda is not a Pro bowl caliber player. Hopefully, this is his last year.

 

[Totally_Red]

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I have hope for Wingard as a younger (and cheaper) replacement for Jalen Thompson. Time will tell.

This is show me year, obviously, for Nick Rallis and Monti's draft picks.

 

[BooksOrangePlanet]

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[oaken1]

Don’t fret, bro we’ve got BJ Ojulari coming back

oh.....yay......

 

[oaken1]

Rallis stayed because he could not find another job and we could not find a DC who wanted to come here. Monti and Rallis blamed JG for the team's failure, but they are equally to blame. The defensive vastly unperformed last year, with the free agents and draft picks that were signed. The two coaches who most deserved to be fired, Rallis and the OL coach we kept.

yeah hell, might as well just make crap up. cant be much worse than the truth anyway

 

[kerouac9]

Sorry Budda is not a Pro bowl caliber player. Hopefully, this is his last year.

He was a literal pro bowler last year

 

[kerouac9]

I have hope for Wingard as a younger (and cheaper) replacement for Jalen Thompson. Time will tell.

This is show me year, obviously, for Nick Rallis and Monti's draft picks.

Wingard is older than Jalen Thompson

 

[Card'em]

Pro-bowl caliber players
Josh Sweat
Budda Baker
Walter Nolen*

Starters on a good defense
Will Johnson*
Mack Wilson
Garrett Williams (if healthy)

Replacement level or below
Roy Lopez
Darius Robinson
Zaven Collins
Denzel Burke/Max Melton
Andrew Wingard/Taylor-Demerson

* projection

That’s not a talented defense. We probably need one more pro bowl quality player and two more solid starters to get there.

This is a fair take. The hope is that some of our young players develop into legitimate starters or even better, pro bowlers. It's going to be tough sledding unless some of the following players show marked improvement.

Darius Robinson
Max Melton
Denzel Burke
Cody Simon
Jordan Burch
Dadrion Tayor-Demerson
BJ Ojulari